We all knew the nu-metal revival was inevitable. As soon as I started seeing Gen Z wearing wide-legged pants with fishnet tops, I knew it was dangerously close.

But I didn’t expect that it would come out of the shoegaze scene—or that I would be so into it.

Not that it got its hooks in me right away. When I first listened to this record—recommended to me after I got into Blanket—I got to the second or third track before turning it off. But after Loathe, vein.fm, and Fleshwater softened my initial resistance, I gave Stargazer another listen. And this time, it got me, and it got me good.

Where many of the other so called nu-metal revival acts (nu-nu-metal?) wade around more critic-approved influences (e.g., Deftones, System of a Down, certain Slipknot records), Moodring isn’t afraid to look to the more embarrassing tentpoles of the genre. “Constrict” has a barked chorus that comes very close to rapcore. Many moments hit the same emotional beats as Hybrid Theory—particularly “Head in the Clouds,” which uses the same drop tuned add9 power chords and electronic beats that gave that record its trademark sound. There’s even a song called “N.I.K.E.” for crying out loud.

It’s not all track suits and fitted baseball hats though. “Peel” and “Stargazer” are straight shoegaze songs, and sublime ones at that. “Peel” in particular feels similar to the shoegaze-via-metalcore of Hundredth. “Novocaine Bones” is the sort of track that’s made for lying on the floor and looking at the ceiling.

But what’s most impressive is how well they manage to get these influences to play with eachother. “Disintegrate” fits mid-scooped chuggy verses between anthemic wall-of-sound choruses that filter Slowdive’s influence through White Pony. “N.I.K.E.” makes generous use of industrial electronics and spikes of feedback wrapped in a dreamy atmosphere and heartbreaking lyrics of two pastors who are in love but trapped by their religious obligations.

And somehow, the sonic language of the record makes room for the more overt nu-metal moments and the shoegaze influence to exist side by side without feeling contradictory. It might take a little bit to muscle the angstier sounds down, but once you do, it’s a sweet treat.